Discount retailer Target’s CEO Gregg Steinhafel has stepped down from his position four months after a data breach exposed the personal information of up to 110 million customers during the holiday season last year.
Target’s chief financial officer John Mulligan has been appointed as interim president and CEO.
In a statement released on Monday, Target said: "Today we are announcing that, after extensive discussions, the board and Gregg Steinhafel have decided that now is the right time for new leadership at Target."
Gregg will also step down from his other positions as chairman of the Target board of directors and president with immediate effect.
The retailer has been trying to cope up with the holiday season data breach that occurred in December 2013. Personal information of nearly 70 million individuals, and payment card details of 40 million customers were compromised during the breach.
The company said: "Most recently, Gregg led the response to Target’s 2013 data breach. He held himself personally accountable and pledged that Target would emerge a better company. We are grateful to him for his tireless leadership and will always consider him a member of the Target family."
Target incurred a $17m net expense in the fourth quarter, thanks to costs related to investigating the data breach, offering credit-monitoring and identity-theft protection services to customers, and anticipated claims by affected customers.
